The English Language and Linguistics programme at Cardiff combines the systematic study of the human capacity for language in all its expressions across the world with a particular focus on the English language.

You will learn about all aspects of human language, including how linguistic knowledge is acquired, produced and understood in different contexts, and how it is sometimes lost again, for example through illness or injury. You will discover what all languages have in common, what distinguishes them, how they change over time. You will also study what varieties there are within the same language, such as historical changes, accents, distinct social registers, and differences between spoken and written language.

We offer modules in descriptive traditions of language, such as the study of phonetics, grammar, lexis and morphology, as well as in critical traditions, such as the study of discourse and the relation between language and power. You will study not only spoken and written language but also the many multimodal forms of communication Ð word, image and sound Ð that predominate in contemporary and digital media.